An Inspiring Role Model: Jim Abbott

I believe a role model is someone that everyone can look up to, no matter what your background consists of. Some people may think that just because someone is a professional athlete making profane amounts of money, qualifies them to be a role model, well I disagree. A role model should be a person that has had to overcome obstacles throughout their life, in order to get where they are today. My role model is Jim Abbott.

Abbott's story is quite inspiring. Jim Abbot was born without a right hand. Everyone doubted that he would be able to live life normally, much less have a phenomenal athletic career. He was the captain of his football team as quarterback in high school. Jim was also a star pitcher for his high school baseball team. He accomplished this by creating his own "style" of pitching. His ability to hold his glove on the stump of his right arm, while firing a fastball with his left arm, and then flipping the glove onto his good hand in a matter of a millisecond, in case a ball was hit back at him. Jim would then catch the ball, place the glove under his right arm and then pull the ball out of his glove with his left hand, to get ready for the next pitch.

The following three years he spent playing baseball for the Wolverines at the University of Michigan. Each of the three years he led his team to Big Ten championships, and eventually accomplished his ultimate goal, to make it to the "Big Show." In 1987 Jim led Team USA to the silver medal in the Pan American games, after carrying the US flag for the opening ceremonies. Only one year later in the Seoul Olympics, he pitched in the gold medal-winning game against Japan. Abbott's accomplishments won him the 1988 Golden Spikes Award, given to the nation's top amateur baseball player, not to mention the Sullivan Award, which is given each year to the nation's top amateur athlete (he was the first baseball player ever to win this award). In 1989 Jim Abbott became a professional. As a...

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